I am making my wedding dress and googled 'how to ruche a waist' and it led me to this site. A lady had photos posted of herself in a purple dress with a lovely ruched waist and I am asking for tips on how to do mine.

The material I am using is satin with a lovely lacey layer on top which is quite highly decorated with little seed beads in places and I have an idea of how to ruche the top layer over the satin layer but wondered if anyone has any good tips? I have been using a pattern which I have had to adapt which does not show this detail.

Hi Rosemarie & welcome to the group. The few times that I have done ruching is to gather a wide band of fabric on each side seam. I don't know how that would translate into your pattern but this is how I ruche a waist in a dress. Here is a link for a tutorial http://www.roserushbrooke.com/how-to-ruche.htmlMarty

Rosemarie, I used to have a pattern with this feature. It had great instructions that were so simple but worked so well ! ! Here is how they instructed me to do it. cut the foundation pieces, and then cut the top layer (to be ruched) on the bias and about 1 inch shorter for the front and 1 inch shorter for the back. run a basting thread inside the seam line and gather top layer, then attach the top layer to the foundation layer and proceed with dress construction. This always worked for me. The bias layer always gathered so prettily and there was never any sagging on the ruched area.

I would cut the midriff piece and use it as my base. I always use the base of gathers of 1.5 to 2.5 ratio for adding length to the overlay. I would also, cut the overlay on the bias. Use clear thread to hand baste the gathers thru the center of the garment piece.

Hi everybody!! I've been so busy with work that I haven't been able to stop by. I hope everyone is well. Hope to be able to post again soon.

L

Leighanna"To love what you do and feel that it matters -- how could anything be more fun?"Katharine Graham - Washington Post